The mother of a 15-year-old girl who gave birth to a baby boy earlier this year is having sleepless nights as to how she is going to support them.

She said she is a vendor and does not make enough money from the goods she sells downtown Kingston.

Sometime last year, she said she discovered that her daughter was pregnant. From that time, life has become extremely difficult for her.

"I work very hard during the days, selling goods downtown Kingston to support my daughter and my son,"she said.

"I was very shocked last year when I discovered that my daughter, who was then 14 years old, was pregnant. I was very upset and quarrelled with her. I did questioned her and she told me she was pregnant for a taxi driver.

"I went to the taxi driver and confronted him about what my daughter had told me. He denied interfering with her. The man was very rude to me and told me to go and find the man who got my daughter pregnant.

"Now that my daughter gave birth to a baby boy, I went back to the man and told him that he should give money to help to take care of the baby. He has refused. I have a son to send to school. Now I am forced to support my daughter and her baby. I can hardly afford to do so.

"I spoke to a nurse who lives in my community and she advised me that I should report the matter to the police. I did not want to do that because I do not want the people in the community to say I got my grandson's father arrested. A neighbour suggested that I should take him to court for child support. In so doing, a DNA test could be done to establish if he is, in fact, the father of the child.

A girl who is under the age of 16 cannot consent to having sexual intercourse. Under the Child Care and Protection Act, you have a responsibility to report to the police that your daughter was sexually molested, so that the matter can be investigated. You can also take the taxi driver to court for child support. If he still denies he is the father, steps can be taken for him to do a DNA test to determine paternity.